Getting to know Dr. Jessica McGuire
My love for people and my belief in accessible, compassionate healthcare led me to become a doctor. I want to live in a world where, no matter your circumstances, you can receive excellent care from kind and committed professionals.
I am deeply grateful for the unwavering dedication and advocacy of my parents.
As a child, I faced multiple hospital admissions and an uncertain medical diagnosis, but through their sheer perseverance, I was able to navigate the journey to complete health.
I fell in love with ear, nose, and throat surgery because it allows me to work closely with children, walking alongside them on their road to recovery.
Becoming a mother further opened my eyes to the gaps in the healthcare system. Each time my own children needed medical care, I was reminded of how easily I could access it, something that many families struggle with. That realisation led to the creation of Hope-Hear, a platform designed to bridge this gap and support parents, like mine, as they navigate the journey with children facing hearing loss and/or language delays.
I am currently pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Dr. Armand Bam at Stellenbosch University’s Business School. This social impact project focuses on improving access to language stimulation tools and developmental monitoring for children from birth to three years old.
Online resources to help babies develop language and help parents navigate the challenges of the early years will be added to the website, and our social media accounts.
Our Projects
Screening Technician Training Programme
HOPE-Hear has established the only universal newborn screening programme in the South African Public Health Sector.
In Africa, a critical shortage of audiologists and speech-language therapists makes universal newborn hearing screening a challenge. With only around one audiologist per two million people, expecting specialists to handle screening, diagnostics, and rehabilitation is simply not feasible.
By training laypeople to conduct hearing screenings, we’re creating a cost-effective, scalable solution that helps build capacity within the system. Instead of audiologists screening every newborn, our trained technicians identify babies who need further diagnostics, freeing up specialists to focus on diagnosis and rehabilitation.
HOPE-4-Smiles
Dr Martin Douglas-Jones, a maxillo-facial surgeon, and Dr Jessica McGuire have set up a multidisciplinary clinic at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital.
The clinic was set up to identify children with mandibular hypoplasia (small lower jaw) for a variety of reasons.
Million Word Gap Project
We are comitted to producing free reading material for children in the 6 month to 6 year old age group.
The Million Word Gap Project was initiated on 27 April 2024 and will run for 2 years.